Secrets and Special Friends
by KatelynGibbs
Summary: Ziva and Kate are polar opposites. One is programmed to put herself in front of bullet for those around her and the other is trained to be the one pulling the trigger. But maybe the two women are not as different as they seem.
1. Secrets Shared

**A/N: **Okay, so I was looking through an NCIS meme on the internet and found this string of Kate/Ziva prompts. Now normally I would never pair Kate with **anyone** but Gibbs or Abby (Yes, I've done both, though not at the same time, that would be too confusing for my head.) but because the prompts were just so sweet and perfectly connected, I decided that I had to take them. Now, I'm planning to post individual portions on the meme along with their respective prompts, but I have also decided to piece them together here and make a nice little short-chapter story to tell the tale of Kate and Ziva's life together from a little before they started their relationship, to how they got together (and who helped out) to their coming-out conversation with both the team and Kate's parents. I get the feeling that last bit will be the most heart-rending. Anyway, now that I've explained my plot-bunny, I shall proceed. By the way, for those of you who read my other stories you may notice that I either have no author's notes or entire paragraphs. I'm intending to edit some of my older stories to make them more readable; it took me a while to figure out the process. Also, I don't have a beta. For any of my stories. Sad but true, so I take full responsibility for my mistakes and welcome any critiques, whether they're on plot or on grammer/spelling. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Kate frowned as she knocked on Ziva's front door again. "Damnit, woman, open the door." She growled in frustration, tapping her foot anxiously against the concrete. When another minute passed, she sighed and pulled out her spare key, slipping it into the lock and twisting it before pushing the door open. It wasn't the first time she'd been to Ziva's house, but it was the first time she'd had to use her spare key. She had one for everyone's house except Gibbs's. No one had a key to Gibb's house because no one needed one. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her, but then she paused. She could hear the muffled sound of music from the other room, and what sounded like..._singing_. "Ziva?" she asked again, craning her neck a little as she tried to figure out which door was blocking the sound.

When she found it, she opened the door and stopped dead. Ziva was seated on her bed, her fingers strumming gracefully over the strings of an acoustic guitar. Her eyes were closed and she wore a pair of expensive DJ's headphones over her ears as she sang along with the song. Kate couldn't understand the words and she guessed that they were Hebrew. She stood in the doorway, feeling a little uncomfortable and unsure how to interrupt. Eventually she gave up and just walked over a tapped Ziva on the shoulder.

The Israeli's eyes flashed open and Kate found her wrist locked in an iron grip. Ziva blushed and released the other woman quickly as if she'd been burned. She pulled off her headphones hastily and set her guitar aside. "Um, hi Kate." She muttered, blushing deeper.

"Hi." Kate was blushing a little too. "Um, well, Gibbs wants us back in the field, he called me and told me to come get you."

Ziva sighed in frustration. If she didn't know better, she'd suspect Gibbs of trying to set her up with the former Secret Service agent. But she did know better and so did Gibbs. While she might be perfectly comfortable in a relationship with another woman, she knew that Kate was as straight as...a very straight thing...and besides that, she was a devoted Catholic and her religion forbade her from ever considering such a thing. "Alright. Give me a minute and I'll be ready to go." She got up and strode over to her dresser, pulling out a fresh set of work clothes.

"Kay, well, I'll be out in the car." Kate flushed a little deeper and hurried to leave. She was not unaccustomed to the feelings she had for Ziva, but she was far more nervous than she usually was. She knew Gibbs had seen through her 'boyfriends' quickly enough, and that he was trying his hand at playing matchmaker by always pairing the two women, but Ziva was not the relationship kind and Kate was. It could never work between them even if Ziva were interested in her. Sure, the young Mossad officer flirted, but then again, she flirted with everybody, she was as bad as Tony that way.

She'd only been sitting in the car for a few minutes before Ziva came out and got in the passenger seat and Kate started the car back up. They drove in silence for a moment before Ziva cleared her throat nervously. "Um, Kate?" she asked hesitantly. "W...would you mind not telling anyone about that? Tony would never let me live it up if he found I play guitar."

"I think you mean live it down." Corrected Kate automatically, smiling over at Ziva. "And yeah, of course I won't tell them anything. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Ziva smiled in relief. "Thanks." She sank back into her seat and offered a silent prayer that Kate didn't understand Hebrew, or this night would've been a lot more embarrassing. What would the young agent have thought if she'd known the song was about her?

* * *

**A/N:** Aw, what a sweet start. More will be up soon, but I warn you all, my updating pattern is extremely erradic. (So is my life and my internet connection, so I do apologize.)


	2. Operation Kiva

**A/N: **Chapter two of my newest and most experimental story. Ziva and Kate are interested, but afraid. Maybe all they need is some help from NCIS's best meddlers.

* * *

"Hey Abbs! You wanted to see m...whoa!" Tony gasped as the Goth grabbed him by the arm and yanked him into her lab, closing and locking the door behind him. She narrowed her eyes at him and he wondered for a moment if he were in trouble. "Uh...Abby? What's going on?"

"I am planning a secret operation." Replied Abby, still watching him suspiciously. "And I want to know if you're in."

He stared at her in shock, wondering if she'd finally gone crazy from being cooped up in the underground lab with constant metal music. "That...depends on what you're planning to do." He answered slowly.

"I'm playing matchmaker." She told him decidedly.

Tony perked up instantly. "Oh, well in that case, of course I'm in! Who're we throwing together?"

Abby grinned happily, spinning in an excited circle and dropping into her computer chair. "I call it Operation Kiva!" she announced, throwing her hands up in the air. "I just think they'd be SO cute together."

"Wait, wait, wait. Kate and Ziva?" demanded Tony incredulously. "You are aware that Kate is very, very, VERY straight, aren't you? She went to Catholic school for God's sake! She goes to church every Sunday, she never does anything wrong, and she says her prayers every night!"

Abby smiled wickedly. "If you still think that, then I guess YOU'RE not aware of who Paula Cassidy broke up with you for." She retorted sweetly.

Tony's jaw dropped. "No way!" he gasped. "Kate? Our good little Katie is actually a God-forsaken homosexual?"

"Aw, Tony, you're so cute!" giggled Abby. "Come on, you know all the cool girls are lesbians! Anyway, I want to get her and Ziva together, will you help me?"

Tony considered for a moment, struggling a little to readjust his idea of the feisty brunette agent he worked with, then nodded with a grin. "I'm in." he decided wickedly.

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**A/N:** Sorry it was so short, I'll try to update on the rest of Abby's genius plan soon. No doubt it'll be an interesting one.


	3. Girl's Day Out

**A/N: **It never ceases to amaze me that whenever I start a story on a whim, it winds up being my most popular, whereas the plotbunnies that drive me crazy for weeks before I finally put pen to paper tend to fall to the wayside. But I'm a crowd pleaser, so here you go, my next installment of Secrets and Special Friends. Wait until you see what I have planned for Kate and Ziva's coming out party! P.S., for those who think Tony's picturing girl-girl porn for this relationship, think again!

* * *

"Why do we have to take Ziva?" complained Kate, glancing at Abby wearily. "She's not remotely girly, and she'd hate the spa."

"Everyone needs a good spa day from time to time, even Ziva." Declared Abby loftily. "It's a proven fact that it's good for the soul. Now stop complaining and grab your bag, we're leaving."

Kate obliged and soon found herself in the car with Abby and Ziva. In truth, it wasn't that she didn't want Ziva around. It was more that she _didn't_ want to be in the compromising position of being half-naked around the woman she had developed a huge crush on. Okay more than a crush, but that only made it worse. How could she relax when she knew that Ziva was only a few feet away, both of them vulnerable to each other and Abby?

Oh shit, Abby. This would be awkward. Kate had been working hard enough to keep Abby from figuring out her crush for fear that the Goth would try to play Matchmaker. Having her in the same room as all of that potential sexual tension? This was going to be difficult. Kate took a deep breath and calmed her heart rate. It would be fine. She could control herself. Heh, yeah right.

* * *

Ziva had never been one to take a spa day, but Abby had refused to take no for an answer and the Israeli had found herself packed up into the hearse before she could blink. As they neared their destination, she began to realize that the spa actually sounded like a fun way to spend her day off. At least, she'd thought that until she glanced over at Kate and seen how tense she was. Kate was sitting, very straight, face away from Ziva, a faint blush showing at the edge of her V-neck blouse, and Ziva sank into her seat a little more. She knew that things had never quite been easy between them, considering her brother's actions, but she'd thought they'd gotten past that! After all, they got along well at work, hell they even flirted some, although honestly, Ziva flirted with everyone, and Kate didn't even seem to realize she was doing it. But the point was, they'd been doing so well, and now it seemed like Kate could barely stand to be in the same room as Ziva.

And somehow, the Israeli doubted that Kate would take it very well if she caught Ziva looking at the spa today. Which, despite how much Tony teased her about her endless Mossad control, she would not be able to prevent. It was bad enough when Kate wore those skirts, the ones that wrapped around her hips and curved under her...

Ziva cut off that thought quickly. No, not good, she could _not_ go there right now! She sighed slightly and rolled her neck, wondering how on earth she was supposed to relax and enjoy a spa day when all she could think about was Kate?

* * *

**A/N: **So, as I may have mentioned before, this was actually just a prompt on one of the NCIS memes I follow, and I thought I'd stretch my wings a little and give it a try. Little did I know when I started that it would manage to become even more popular than Cinderalla Story (which was another random will-not-admit-to-writing-for-sake-of-my-own-dignity piece that I wrote that wound up with 500 readers within the first month), and be the one story that people have begged me to finish! I was just checking in on things, realized I hadn't updated in a while and read one review that pleaded it's case so well, I decided to update. Hope you like it, and yes, I promise to include lots of lovely tension and revelations in the next chapter. More than you might think.


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